QPR v Swansea Competition - Sky Bet Championship Venue - Loftus Road Date - 21 April 2025 Kick off - 3pm Following their hard fought 1-0 home win on Good Friday against relegation battlers Hull City, next up for Alan Sheehan’s in form Swansea squad is an away trip to West London to play a QPR team who are just 3 places and 4 points behind the Swans. Last Friday, Hull’s hopes of avoiding relegation from the Championship were dealt a cruel blow as Zan Vipotnik's somewhat controversial penalty gave the Swans a fourth successive win and a fourth successive clean sheet - the first time that that has happened in 17 years. Referee Ben Toner awarded the Swans a second-half spot-kick for handball, although replays suggested that Vipotnik's shot had hit Hull defender John Egan in the face. Indeed, it is fair to say that the Swans were denied a ‘definite’ penalty in the first half when Vipotnik was hauled down right in front of Toner. Hull had chances to equalise and an appeal for a penalty of their own rejected, before substitute Matt Crooks was sent off in added time for a second booking. The result keeps Hull 20th in the Championship table, two points clear of the bottom three with three games left, while the Swans move up to 11th. Whist the Swans were playing the Tigers, Substitute Lucas Andersen scored a 93rd-minute winner in spectacular fashion as Queen's Park Rangers came from behind to beat Preston North End 2-1. I’ve seen a replay of the goal and it is very worthwhile watching it if you can - a brilliant strike. Preston defender Liam Lindsay nodded in low goal past Rs keeper Paul Nardi to give the hosts the lead seconds before half-time. It took until the 80th minute for QPR to equalise thanks to Jonathan Varane's half-cleared cross, which fell for Michael Frey to drive in from 15 yards. Andersen proved to be the hero of the day though as he sweetly hit a strike outside of the box in the fourth minute of injury time to clinch all three points for his side at the very death. So both the Swans and the Rs secured mathematical safety on the same day - although relegation was not mathematically impossible on Good Friday morning, the actual threat of spending next season in League One was unlikely for both clubs: however, their respective wins confirmed Championship status for both clubs for next season. The Swans has played the R/s on 58 previous occasions winning 18, drawing 17 and losing 23. In the corresponding fixture last season, the teams drew 1-1: Turning to tomorrow, I understand that the Swans have sold out there entire allocation (1,500?) so the atmosphere at the ground should be pretty decent. As for matters on the pitch, the Swans winning run has to end at some point and I think that although the team is capable of returning home with all 3 points, I think that both teams will play out an entertaining 2-2 drawing.
Your prediction of a thrilling score draw sounds very plausible Taff and of course, we can't win every game from now on... but I'm enjoying this glorious run of performances and results too much to get sensible now! So a thrilling win instead 2 - 3
Hi Swans. Only honour to play for though our manager wants to exceed last year's 56 points. No pressure so I'm expecting a few young bloods to start. If you're bringing 1500, should indeed be a good atmosphere.
It’s sure to be a match talked about by both sets of fans for generations to come. The battle for 13th.
Pre-Match Views from the Bench Alan Sheehan: “It’s a quick turnaround, but obviously the aim is to make sure we try and keep this good run going. “We have had the weekend to debrief the Hull game and consider what we did well and what we can improve on and get better at. “We understand that it is a hectic period, but you have to be able to separate these games into individual tasks. “So we have to close the tab on the Hull game. We certainly want to appreciate the wins and the effort the players have put in to this run. “We also appreciate the feeling around the place at the moment, it’s a wonderful feeling so let’s try and make sure we have more of it.” Marti Cifuentes: “We are safe and we have achieved the first target as a club. The next target, as I've been saying this season, is to make sure that we at least achieve the 56 points that we achieved last season. So we've got three games to try to get there. “I’m a competitive person. The guys are competitive. We will not just relax and now in the next games accept average performances. “We want to keep pushing and finish the season in a good way.”
Tom Nield will be the referee for Swansea City’s Championship clash with Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Easter Monday. The match will mark the first time the official from Wakefield has overseen a Swans match this season. Last term he had the whistle for a home win over Norwich City, then FA Cup victory over Morecambe and a league draw at Watford. The Yorkshireman was initially added to the National List of Referees in 2018, and may well have progressed to Select Group 2 by this stage had he not had to lessen his PGMOL appointments during the Covid-19 pandemic in order to work additional hours in his other job as an NHS nurse with the Mid-Yorkshire Hospital NHS Trust. Saturday will mark his 30th match of the 2024-25 campaign. He has so far handed out 122 yellow cards and one red. Nield will be assisted by Mark Stevens and Rob Smith. Lewis Smith will be the fourth official.
Bit late unless you’re close to London but it’s not quite sold out and a few tickets in the tier below the away end which now seems to include a few away fans in the block by the corner flag. Would imagine if you head to Belushi’s opposite Shepherds Bush station there’ll be a spare away ticket floating around.
Liam Cullen and Jay Fulton return to the Swansea City starting line-up for this afternoon’s Easter Monday clash with Queens Park Rangers. The forward and midfielder come in for Žan Vipotnik and Joe Allen respectively at MATRADE Loftus Road. The visitors are otherwise unchanged from the Good Friday victory over Hull. That means Lawrence Vigouroux remains in goal behind a back four of Josh Key, Josh Tymon, captain Ben Cabango and Harry Darling. Fulton slots in alongside Lewis O’Brien and Goncalo Franco in the centre of the park. Ronald and Jisung Eom are on the flanks, with Cullen leading the line for the Swans. Hannes Delcroix is named on the bench as he returns from an adductor injury. Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux; Josh Key, Ben Cabango (captain), Harry Darling, Josh Tymon; Jay Fulton, Goncalo Franco, Lewis O’Brien; Ronald, Jisung Eom, Liam Cullen. Substitutes: Jon McLaughlin, Joe Allen, Žan Vipotnik, Florian Bianchini, Cyrus Christie, Kyle Naughton, Hannes Delcroix, Ollie Cooper, Sam Parker. Queens Park Rangers: Paul Nardi, Jimmy Dunne (captain), Jack Colback, Liam Morrison, Ronnie Edwards, Harrison Ashby, Nicolas Madsen, Lucas Andersen, Jonathan Varane, Yang Min-hyeok,Rayan Kolli. Substitutes: Joe Walsh, Ilias Chair, Kader Dembele, Michael Frey, Morgan Fox, Kenneth Paal, Kieran Morgan, Daniel Bennie, Emmerson Sutton.
